The Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon was established in May 1960 and continues today to serve the Greater Brandon community, especially its children. It currently sponsors over a dozen programs and provides support to additional charitable organizations within the Brandon community with the same goal and mission, serving the youth of our community.
“The Brandon Kiwanis Club has been serving our community for 51 years now,” said club member Dustie Amatangelo. “Our focus is service leadership with our local schools. We support 26 Terrific Kids programs and four K-Kids in elementary schools as well as Builders in middle and high school Key Clubs. We teach our students what it means to be good leaders and how to give back to the community. Our new initiative is food insecurities. Our partnership with Mosaic and Feeding America allows us to support a food pantry at Gibsonton Elementary School and mobile food trucks in our local community especially through the pandemic.”
The club will hold its annual Terrific Kids Golf Tournament on Thursday, October 7 at Buckhorn Springs Golf and Country Club in Valrico starting at 12:30 p.m.
“Kiwanis turned 105 years old this year, a milestone for any organization, but for a nonprofit, we’d like to celebrate,” Amatangelo said. “Our goal is to raise $20K.The golf tournament is our only fundraiser to support all our programs in our local schools. We are looking to the Brandon community for sponsors as well as donated items to put in our gift bags, which are shared with our golfer and our volunteers.”
In addition to gift bags, the club is collecting items for raffle baskets and donations of food for the golfers on the course.
“These donations will be used to raise additional funds, with all the proceeds supporting projects of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon,” Amatangelo said. “One hundred percent of the money raised from our community is reinvested into our local students through our service initiatives.”
The club hopes this year’s tournament will bring in the most money in the club’s history.
“Every organization has suffered through the pandemic, our club is no different,” Amatangelo said. “If you have a heart for children, this is a great place to invest your time, money and talents.”
To donate items or food for the Kiwanis Club’s upcoming golf tournament, contact Amatangelo at adustie15@gmail.com or call 294-0645.
To learn more about the Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon or to become a member, visit the club’s website at www.brandonkiwanis.org.
